As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:
17But
the from above wisdom is first pure, then peaceable, reasonable, agreeable,
full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, [and] without pretense.
In my last post, I observed that James 3:17, describing this
“from above” wisdom, is actually describing Jesus.
He is everything this verse describes
and He is nothing we saw in vv13-16. In
John 8:23, He told the Pharisees, "You are from below; I am from above.
You are of this world; I am not of this world.” “I am from above.” “Every good and perfect gift is from above.” He is “the wisdom of God.” In Him are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3). He is Himself the “good and perfect gift!”
One of the glorious wonders of knowing Jesus is that knowing
Him makes us like Him. “Beholding His image, we are changed into that image”
(II Cor 3:18). I would maintain that any sincere, thinking person who read
James 3 would say, “I don’t want to be the person described in vv13-16, the
lying, arrogant, pretender. I want to be someone who is “real and peaceable, approachable,
compassionate, and impartial.” The good news is that following Jesus
accomplishes in us exactly that!
I think it is consummately amazing to realize that following
Jesus doesn’t make us “religious,” but rather it makes us loving, dependable,
kind-hearted, brave people – the very persons our heart tells us we should be.
The Pharisees’ “religion” of rules and traditions and scrupulous religious
practices only made them exactly what vv13-16 describes -- arrogant, judgmental
hypocrites. Jesus stepped into the middle of their charade and went off like an
atom bomb. I would suggest that is precisely why the tax collectors and
prostitutes were attracted to Him – He offered them the very thing their hearts
so deeply desired – to somehow know God – and yet it wasn’t in a “religious”
way. It was in a way that made Him approachable. The Pharisees (both then and
now) would drive people to God with the whip of the law. With Jesus, they are “drawn
to redemption by the grace in His eyes.”
Once again, as I think about the passage before us, I am
struck by how far off base we all get and have gotten. Somehow, the hardest
thing in the world is to remember that Christianity is Christ. We get caught up in so many other ideas of what faith
means. It’s bad enough that we might, like the tax collectors and prostitutes,
give our energies to this world’s pleasures and temptations. But then, if we see
that debauchery and determine to “mend our ways” we can simply become
Pharisees, deeply “religious” people who know nothing of the true way and who
simply exchange their immorality for arrogance. It’s so easy to miss Jesus. There are seemingly a million very
good alternatives, so many other ideas of what it means to be “religious.” But’s
it’s all about You, Jesus.
Another thing we can easily miss is the fact that this is
what real wisdom does for us. It makes us pure and peaceable and all those
things. I don’t know if I’ve ever thought of that before. I tend to think
wisdom is good because it makes us wise – helps us not to make bad decisions.
But I’ve never thought particularly that God’s wisdom makes us nice. Of course it does – to understand
all that matters in life is to love God and others is actually the zenith of
wisdom and what does it do? Makes us more loving. No wonder God says, “Blessed is
the man who finds wisdom … She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire
can compare with her” (Prov 3:13-15). Real wisdom means better relationships –
not only with God but also with the people He places around us. And everyone on
their dying bed knows that relationships were all that ever really mattered. To
have this “from above” wisdom doesn’t just “keep us out of trouble.” It helps
us spend our lives on the things that really matter.
What James does for us here in 3:17 is, in a sense, to
summarize Jesus’ qualities, to tell us what “from above” wisdom looks like. He
says it is first of all pure. In I John 3:2,3 we read, “When He appears, we
shall be like Him … Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as
He is pure.” “Pure like Him.” That’s what we want to be. Not just “pure,” but “pure
like Him.” Pure like Jesus. Pure in a
way that doesn’t make us insufferable bigots. Jesus was pure in that there was
nothing “wrong” in Him. He had nothing to hide, no secret vices. He was where
He should be when He should be. He kept His promises. He told the truth. You
could count on Him. That is “pure like Him” and it drew sinners’ hearts to Him,
not drove them away. Real wisdom makes us “pure like Him.”
Jesus was peaceable, or “peace-loving.” In the big picture,
what I think that means is that He valued relationships. He valued each person
He met. He above all wanted the freedom to love those people, to bless them in
some way, and that requires relationship. The opposite is the person from
vv13-16 who is busy pretending to be religious and wise and writes you off the
second you get in their way. God wants there to be peace. “God is not the
Author of confusion, but of peace” (I Cor 12:40). Interestingly, that word “confusion”
from I Corinthians is the same word James just used of false wisdom when he
said it produces “disorder and every
foul practice.” God wants there to be peace. He says to pray for those in
authority “that we may lead peaceful, quiet lives” and why? Because “He wants
all mean to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim 2:1-4).
When people live in turmoil, when their lives are a constant drama, when they
live in a soap opera, it is very difficult for them to have any kind of real relationships.
Fear and love don’t co-exist well. And so Jesus loved peace. Of course, in a
sinful world, even Jesus at some point had to lower the boom, but He did so
only when they drove Him to it, when real love and a real love of peace demanded
firmness. He was a “man of peace.” He valued His relationships.
As I’ve said before, the rest of these adjectives are
difficult to translate from Greek to English. They are picture words and it is
hard to communicate those pictures in a single English word. But let me try
briefly to see them in Jesus. I won’t do a very good job, I’m sure, but Jesus
will!
The next word paints a picture of someone who is everything
they should be, when they should be – just a mature, stable, dependable,
admirable, respectable person. That is certainly Jesus and that is what real
wisdom makes us. I translated it “reasonable” because it makes us people who
aren’t off on hobby-horses and flying off the handle over irrelevant details.
Like Jesus.
Then the next picture is of someone you can actually work
with. I’ve translated it “compliant.” The old KJV was “easy to be entreated.” I
think “approachable” would work too. Jesus said in John 6:37, “… whoever comes
to me I will never drive away.” Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and Jesus
answered his questions. The woman with the issue of blood thought she had to
sneak up behind Him and touch the corner of His garment. She was not only
healed but also had Jesus turn and speak blessing to her. “Come unto Me, all ye
that labor and are heavy-laden,” He called. Real wisdom will take away our
irritability and brittleness and make us people like Jesus – people who are
approachable.
“Full of compassion and good fruit.” What more can we say?
Jesus was filled with compassion. He saw past people’s sins and their offenses
and saw them in their need. And He didn’t just see it, He acted. He was full of
compassion and good fruit. As James
said earlier, if our “religion” is real, it will show up in observable kindness
to others – “visiting widows and the fatherless in their affliction” and
whatever else people need. That is what real wisdom does for us. That’s another
way it makes us like Jesus.
The next word I translated “impartial.” The Greek word has
quite a wide range of meanings, but certainly Jesus was “impartial.” James
rebuked partiality in chapter 2 in the case of the unjust usher. Jesus
obviously couldn’t care less who anybody was. It didn’t matter to Him if people
were rich or poor, kings or peasants, beautiful or ugly, men, women, children –
whatever. The truth is the truth no matter who someone is and each person is,
in themselves, valuable to God. Impartial. Real wisdom helps us to see that –
and be like Jesus.
Lastly is listed “without pretense” or “not hypocritical.”
This is one word that is clear enough in Greek or English. It means just what
it means. Unfeigned. For real. When a person has real wisdom, they don’t have
to pretend anything. James said earlier that the “not from above” wisdom leaves
us with bitter feelings in our hearts and results in “every foul practice.”
Those kinds of things must be hidden by anyone who claims to be “religious” and
certainly anyone who’d presume to teach. Jesus never had to hide anything. “What
you see is what you get.” If we find ourselves putting up fronts, we can be
assured what we think is “wisdom” is not. And, in that case, we can also be
assured that we are not being like
Jesus! I would imagine that’s another reason why the tax collectors and prostitutes
liked Him – He was sincere. He said what He meant. They probably very quickly
realized, “Here is someone we can trust.”
That’s what real wisdom does for us. It makes us like Jesus.
You could re-write James 3:17 and say, “But the wisdom from above is … Jesus!”
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